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Miragliano
The Mighty Principality of Miragliano is one of the most powerful city-states within Tilea, a bastion of defiance against the Skaven hordes of the Great Under-Empire. Because of its position near the Blighted Marshes, which are fetid and ridden with disease, Miragliano has often been victim to outbreaks of plague over the centuries. The Red Pox of 1812 was the worst pestilence, wiping out three quarters of the population of the city. An infestation of large rats was blamed, and since then the city has employed professional rat catchers among its mercenary troops. As well as exterminating rats, the rat-catchers fight running battles against Skaven Gutter Runners. No one knows exactly where the Skaven come from, except that there are many of them in and around the fringes of the Blighted Marshes. A high price is placed on their heads, dead or alive. Since the Red Pox, large parts of the old, squalid city have been rebuilt by the Princes of Miragliano. The city was not originally an Elven colony and grew up in a rambling way over many centuries. The Princes have gradually imposed an orderly plan on the city. This was initially drafted by the great Leonardo da Miragliano who was commissioned with this task by Prince Cosimo. It has taken many centuries since then to bring the plan to fruition. Each subsequent Prince and many of the merchant families have endeavoured to beautify the city with palazzi, piazzas, fine bridges and sculptures. Layout Miragliano is bisected by several broad and elegant canals and many other narrow ones. The populace use these as streets and so there is always a traffic of ornate barges going to and fro through the city, under its many bridges. However, these canals can become smelly and make the city vulnerable to plagues. Besides this, the canals do, of course, make easy ways into the city for Skaven agents. To guard against this there are canal gates, each blocked by a huge iron portcullis and guarded by rat-catchers. The defenses of Miragliano are strong and utilize the marshy nature of the countryside. The moat is very wide and the walls are specially designed to give maximum advantage to artillery. This is all the work of the genius Leonardo, before he entered service with the Emperor. The Princes of Miragliano have always been patrons of learning and science as much as art, if not more so. Being so close to the mountain passes, and in past centuries under some threat from Bretonnia and the Empire, the Princes have been especially concerned with warfare and defences. It is no surprise that not only Leonardo da Miragliano, but also Borgio the Besieger began their careers in this city. The defences of Miragliano feature several tall towers which were built to give a view far across the flat landscape. Unfortunately, because of the unstable nature of the ground, most of these are leaning at awkward angles. However, thanks to the exceptional engineering skills of the architects (Leonardo among them) these towers do not fall down. Indeed, Miragliano has set a fashion in architecture which has been copied in other cities, especially Luccini where the Princes are renowned for their great sense of humour. Now every city either boasts its own leaning tower or aspires to have one. Only in Tilea could such a thing happen! Borgio once commented that executed men look so much better hanging from a leaning tower. He should know! He would often execute his opponents a dozen at a time. It is said that the weight made the towers lean over a couple more degrees during his rule! Sources * : Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War (5th Edition) ** : pg. 79 es:Miragliano Category:M Category:Tilean Cities